Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has long been a force in the computer hardware market. Overclocking enthusiasts have already been impressed by the integrated “RDNA 2” iGPU of the latest AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU.
Although the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs feature an RDNA 2 iGPU that utilizes the graphics architecture, its primary function is to aid in diagnostics rather than for gaming purposes. Nonetheless, enthusiasts have discovered that the chip can be overclocked, similar to any other Ryzen 7000 CPU component. Skatterbencher, a well-known Youtuber, has demonstrated the performance capabilities of the chip by overclocking it to 3.1 GHz, achieving a significant performance gain. While the iGPU is not intended for gaming, its overclocking potential suggests that it can deliver more than its intended diagnostic purpose.
Compute Units (CU) are part of a graphics processing unit (GPU) that contain stream processors or cores. More CUs generally mean more processing power, allowing a GPU to handle more complex tasks. AMD‘s latest Ryzen 7000 CPUs, featuring the “RDNA 2” iGPU, is anticipated to bring noteworthy advancements in performance compared to previous generations, thanks to enhanced power management, more cores, and higher clock speeds. In contrast to the AMD Radeon 680M “RDNA 2” iGPU, which boasts 12 CUs, the Ryzen 7000 iGPU has just two CUs.
While the Radeon iGPU is powerful enough to handle modern games at playable frame rates, the Ryzen iGPU is designed for less demanding tasks such as office work, web browsing, and lightweight graphics. The Ryzen 7000 iGPU is designed to support new encoding and decoding technologies and perform basic graphics tasks on office PCs, with its two compute units and a maximum frequency of 2200 MHz. Although the frequency is lower than the Radeon iGPU’s compute units, it is still adequate for its intended purpose.
The AMD Radeon 680M “RDNA 2” iGPU has six times the compute units and can achieve playable frame rates in modern games.
By default, the “RDNA 2” integrated graphics processing unit (iGPU) on the AMD Ryzen 7000 series achieved approximately 12 frames per second (FPS) in Tomb Raider and an average of 58 FPS in CS: GO at 1080p resolution.
Enabling EXPO resulted in up to a 12% performance boost, suggesting that the iGPU was being hindered by limited memory bandwidth. While this improvement was not significant in terms of gaming performance, it demonstrated that there was potential for further optimization of the iGPU.
Skatterbencher tested the RDNA 2 iGPU using an AMD Ryzen 9 7900 processor and a Gigabyte B650E AORUS Tachyon motherboard and applied the graphics curve optimizer overclocking method to achieve a remarkable +900 MHz overclock, pushing the iGPU to operate at 3.1 GHz. This resulted in an impressive 42% increase in performance. While the overclock boosted the performance of CS: GO from the default 58 FPS to 80 FPS, Tomb Raider remained unplayable, with a slight improvement to 17 FPS.
It’s worth noting that while overclocking can provide significant performance gains, it can also increase the CPU’s power consumption and heat output, which can reduce its lifespan and potentially cause stability issues.
During the testing process, Skatterbencher’s overclock caused the GPU temperatures to increase to 52.8C, while the combined power consumption of the GPU and SOC reached 60.6W. In contrast, the stock chip had a GPU temperature of 38.4C and power consumption of 38.5W.
While the AMD Ryzen 7000 “RDNA 2” iGPU is not meant to be a gaming GPU, its performance improvements are impressive. The two compute units (CUs) running at a maximum frequency of 2200 MHz on the iGPU are enough to power office PCs and handle lightweight graphics tasks while supporting new encode/decode technologies. However, users who require more graphics performance will still need to invest in a dedicated gaming GPU.
Skatterbencher’s results show that integrated graphics overclocking is much better and more accessible than AMD’s discrete graphics lineup. While AMD’s discrete graphics cards can deliver more performance, they are also more expensive and difficult to overclock. For those who are conscious of their budget, having the ability to overclock an iGPU on the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs can be a valuable option to maximize the performance of their system.
The AMD Ryzen 7000 “RDNA 2” iGPU significantly improved over previous generations and can deliver impressive performance gains through overclocking. Users need to remember that overclocking an iGPU on the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs may have consequences such as increased power consumption, higher heat generation, reduced stability, and shorter lifespan.
Therefore, users should also consider the iGPU’s primary intended usage before deciding to overclock. It’s an excellent option for office PCs and lightweight graphics tasks, and overclocking can provide a noticeable boost in performance for budget-conscious users.